The Lent of a CEO
by aibou-doodle
Summary: Seto, a cup of coffee, and a challenge. Hilarity is bound to ensue.
1. Chapter 1

_**aibou-doodle**_: As many of you know, tomorrow is the beginning of Lent! You give up something that you enjoy for forty days, and resist the temptation to eat/enjoy it until Easter Sunday. Most will give up chocolate but since that isn't challenging enough for me, I am going to give up ... CAFFEINE! That means no coke, no coffee, no tea (although I have invested in some Tetley De-caff!), no energy drinks. Now _that_ is challenging for me! I have so much caffeine in one week and I have no idea how suddenly ceasing to consume it will affect my body -- let's just hope I don't damage myself .

Anywho, I began to wonder how Seto Kaiba would do without his trusty-cups of coffee for forty days at work ... So I'm going to make him suffer with me. Haha! Oh, and Mokuba's not getting out of this either, but he's gonna enjoy this more than Seto!

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, coke, coffee, Tetley or energy drinks.

_**Warnings:**_ None as such in this chapter! I think.

* * *

_**Prologue: Challenge**_

It was getting late, and Seto Kaiba was still sitting in his office at Kaiba Corp, filling out reports, and answering emails, and reviewing the upgrades for the Duel Disk, and completing the design for a new video game ...

... And drinking coffee. His desk was littered with pieces of paper, folders and about seven coffee cups, all of them empty except for the one which resided close to his laptop. And these were just the cups that he drank at work -- he had at least two cups of the hot liquid this morning before he left for work and he would probably have another two when he got home, where he would work some more.

Seto sighed and reached for the liquid with one hand still typing away at the computer. He lifted the cups to his lips and inhaled the aroma before taking a drink. The dark and bitter flavour hit his senses and he felt himself becoming slightly more alert. He placed the cup back on the table and resumed his work with both hands.

After about ten minutes Seto realised with surprise that the coffee cup was empty. He often drank it on automatic and usually didn't realise that he was drinking it until there was none left. Scowling at the ceramic bottom of the cup, Seto leaned over and pressed the intercom button.

"Corry, I need another--"

"No way!" An annoyed feminine voice spoke back to him. There was an audible huff before she continued: "It's almost 6pm and I have already stayed on an hour more than I should have to do one of those reports for you. There is no way in _hell _that I am fetching you another coffee. I'm off."

Seto growled and resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk. "I'll give you time and a half if you just get me another--"

He stopped when he heard the door open and he looked up to see his secretary's head popping in to the room. "The answer is _no_," she repeated with a glare. "I don't care if you offer me _triple _time, Mr Kaiba. It's late, and I promised my sister that I would babysit for her tonight." Her gaze softened as she took in the almost-dishevelled state of the teenage CEO. "Why don't you go home and spend some time with Mokuba? He'd appreciate seeing you home before 8pm, you know?" She smiled at him and disappeared from sight. "I'll see you in the morning, Mr Kaiba!"

Seto listened to the sound of her footsteps until they faded away completely before he sighed. He glanced at his laptop and saved everything before closing it and slipped it in to his briefcase and stood up. That darn woman always knew what to say to get him out of the office.

Also, there was coffee at home.

* *

It was later that evening when Mokuba walked in to the kitchen to see his brother sitting at the counter in the kitchen with his laptop in front of him and a cup to his side. The younger Kaiba couldn't help but roll his eyes as he climbed up on to the chair opposite his brother. "Did you come home early because you wanted to, or did Corry threaten you with no more coffee?"

Seto paused his typing to look up at his brother. "...A bit of both," he admitted with narrowed eyes. "She didn't threaten me, just refused to get me another cup."

Mokuba nodded and watched with distaste as Seto picked the coffee up and drank deeply from it. His nose wrinkled at the bitter smell that wafted over to him. "Coffee is gross," he stated.

"Coffee is needed," Seto countered and resumed his typing.

"...I bet you couldn't give it up for forty days."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's something Ryou told me about," Mokuba said, beaming. "He's says that back in England they have this thing called 'Lent'. It starts on Ash Wednesday, which is tomorrow, and ends on Easter Sunday. You give up something that you love during that time and have to resist the temptation to go back to it. I said that I bet you can't give up coffee for forty days."

"That's stupid," Seto said, "I could easily stop drinking coffee."

"Really?" Mokuba challenged. There was a mischievous glint in his eye and Seto knew that meant that Mokuba was going to have a lot of fun with this. "Fine. I challenge you to not drink any coffee for forty days. And if you break your Lent, you have to stop complaining about me hanging out with Yugi and the gang."

Seto grumbled something about Yugi's gang that wasn't audible to Mokuba's ears. "Okay," Seto agreed. He smirked. "But you have to give up something too."

Mokuba gulped, nervous at the look that Seto was giving him. "W-what?"

The smirk got wider. "You have to give up your video games," he stated, and Mokuba flinched. "Do you concede?"

Mokuba crossed his arms, scowling. "Fine," he muttered.

"If you break _your _Lent, then you have to stop complaining about my coffee consumption."

"But Seto," Mokuba whined, "it's so unhealthy for you! Why can't you just--" At Seto's raised eyebrow, Mokuba sighed. "Fine!" He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I stop telling you to lay off the coffee. But I won't lose."

Seto's smirk turned in to a small, evil grin. "Neither will I."

* * *

_**Note:**_ Updates won't be every day, but I will try to update at _least _every Wednesday. Which includes tomorrow! Let the Lent begin!


	2. Chapter 2

_**aibou-doodle:**_ Seto Kaiba _will _share my caffeine-withdrawal pains. Haha! Although, day one and I'm feeling good!!

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! And Seto Kaiba is extremely thankful for that fact.

_**Warnings: **_Mild swearing. And lack of caffeine.

_**Day One**_

Seto awoke the next morning at 6:30am. He went through his usual morning routine of washing and getting dressed before he walked down to the kitchen at 6:52am. Mokuba was already sitting at the counter eating some sugar-coated cereal and reading a gaming magazine.

"Good morning, Seto!" Mokuba said. Seto only grunted in response and moved over to the cabinets and began taking out a mug. He opened another drawer and took down a pack of his favourite blend of coffee.

"_Ahem_." Mokuba was scowling at his older brother, with his hands planted on his hips. "Seto, you can't drink coffee anymore, remember? We made that bet last night!"

Seto blinked and looked down at the coffee. He growled and shoved the packet back in to the drawer. "Damn," he muttered. "What do I drink instead?"

"Water."

He felt his eyebrow twitch. "Water?" he repeated.

Mokuba nodded. "Yes! It's healthier for you. How much water can you say you drink in a day?" Silence. "Exactly. No wonder you get headaches -- coffee dehydrates your body. So from now on you will drink water. Understood?"

"Ugh, understood," Seto grumbled. He ruffled Mokuba's hair before he left the kitchen. "I'm going to work. Be good in school."

"I will!" Mokuba waited until he heard the front door open and close before he moved from his spot. The younger teen bolted up the stairs and went to his bedroom, where he turned on the computer and opened up his email. "Now, to make sure Seto doesn't cheat." He cackled evilly.

* *

"Good morning, Mr Kaiba!" An overly cheery voice greeted him as he walked towards his office, and Seto held his firm belief that anyone who sounded that happy in the morning did not deserve a response from him.

Corry clucked her tongue in disapproval but carried on. "There are four more contracts waiting to be signed so I put them on your desk. The manager of Human Resources called and said that they need more employees in the office downstairs if you want the new model of the Duel Disk out by summer, and Mr Pegasus called -- he wants to know if you would partner up with him to create a new trading-card game."

Seto sighed as he opened his office door. "I will sign the contracts and send them out to you before lunch, email Frank and tell him that I'll give him as many employees as he needs if he can get the Duel Disk finished _before _summer, and tell Pegasus that I'm not interested in _another _card game and that if he steps foot in Kaiba Corp I will get a restraining order on his ass." He stepped in to his office. He was about to close the door when he jerked it open again. "Hey, Corry!" he whispered.

She raised an eyebrow but whispered back, "Yes, Mr Kaiba?"

"What are the chances of you getting me a coffee now?"

"None," she said with a snort of laughter. "I got an email from your brother a few minutes ago. He's asked me to make sure you don't cheat with your Lent."

Seto growled and slammed his office door shut.

That was just fine. He didn't need the coffee anyway.

Definitely not.

* *

"Ya made him do _what_?!"

Yugi looked up from his desk and saw Joey walk in to the room with his mobile held against his ear. He was laughing at something the person had said and there were almost tears running down his face. "How do you know he'll follow through with it?" Pause. Joey grinned, "You're pure evil. Let me know when he's coming back t' school -- I wanna tease him about! 'Kay, bye."

"Who was that?" Yugi questioned as soon as Joey had put the phone in his pocket. The blond sat down at his desk, still chuckling before he replied.

"That was Mokuba," he explained, the grin still on his face. "He told me that he has a bet going on wit' Kaiba."

"What did they bet?"

"Mokuba bet that Kaiba couldn't last forty days without coffee."

Yugi blinked and then burst in to a fit of giggles.

* *

Tap tap tap tap tap. Reach for coffee mug. Clasp thin air. Growl.

...

Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap tap. Tap. Reach for coffee mug. Clasp thin air. Growl. Curse.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Backspace. Tap tap tap tap tap. Highlight. Delete. Tap tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap.

Reach for coffee mu -- violent cursing.

Tap tap tap.

Bang head against desk.

* *

"Welcome home, big brother! How was -- are you okay?"

Seto glared dully at Mokuba as he collapsed face-down on the couch. He sighed miserably and his arm dangled off the edge. "Coffee," he muttered.

Mokuba's eyes lit up with amusement. He stifled a giggled behind his hand and asked, "Lent not going so well?" There was no answer. "You know, you can just admit that you can't do it--"

"Never said I couldn't," Seto interrupted. "Oh, and I'm hiding your video games."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because you got my secretary to gang up against me."

"You _asked _her for a coffee!"

"Details, details."

* * *

_**A/N: **_Yeah, it was short. I will update next Wednesday, and it should be longer since I'll be cramming in about a week of caffeine-withdrawal drabbles in to the one update! Stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 3

_**aibou-doodle: **_First of all, thank you for all of your kind reviews! I really appreciate them, and secondly:__mwahaha! The first week of Lent is over, and here are some little drabbles from Seto's life. I feel quite evil!

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or coffee, or energy drinks.

_**Warnings: **_OOC Seto in Day Five. You'll see...

* * *

_**Week One**_

_**Day Two...**_

_Idon'tneedcoffeeIdon'tneedcoffeeIdon'tneedcoffee._

Seto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The laptop screen in front of him was becoming increasingly blurred as his eyesight started to shut down and his brain demanded sleep. It was only 11:30pm and he could usually get a few more hours in before finally going to bed, waking up again at 6:30am. A CEO didn't need eight hours of sleep -- they only needed coffee.

Which Seto was currently lacking in.

He pinched the bridged of his nose and once again tried to focus on his work, only to be interrupted by a yawn that made him close his eyes and sag in his chair. Damn, this was _not _working. If he kept this going he would end up making a mistake, and Seto Kaiba hated mistakes. With an aggravated sigh he saved his work and shut the laptop, resolving to continue work when he got to the company.

Seto stood up and made his way over to the bed, where he collapsed face-down on to the mattress, groaning. It was only the second day and he was dying (that was probably a little dramatic for him, but who really cared? Not him, not when he needed coffee). He moved his head slightly to the side to look at his alarm clock. It told him that it was 12:02am ... which made it Day Three.

_This is the earliest I've been to bed in years, _Seto thought as his eyes started to droop closed. _I hope I don't start making a habit of it..._

* * *

_**Day Four...**_

"Setooooooo!"

"Not now, Mokuba."

"But it's Saturday!" The raven-haired teen pouted and moved around the desk to place his hands on Seto's arm. "And I'm _really _bored! I can't play my video games and _you_ won't play Duel Monsters with me!"

Seto's eyes didn't leave the computer screen as he asked, "Why don't you go play with the Geek Squad?"

Mokuba pouted. "Because I want to play with youuu..."

Seto growled and continued to type. "I haven't got time to play with you," he muttered. "I've got too much work to catch up on since I've been sleeping for the past three nights!"

"...You've been _sleeping_?"

"Of _course _I've been sleeping! I haven't had any coffee to keep me awake!" He bit back a curse and deleted a typo that he had just made.

Mokuba looked at his brother thoughtfully. "You know," he began, "I didn't say that you couldn't have other caffeinated drinks. Why don't you have some energy drinks?"

Seto paused his work and raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Energy drinks?" he repeated. "Please, Mokuba, that rubbish is nothing more than urine."

_

* * *

_

_**Day Five**_

"MokubaMokubaMokubaMokuba!"

The younger Kaiba looked up in horror as the voice echoed through the halls. He glanced around the room before hesitantly calling out, "...Big brother?"

"**MOKUBA**!"

He squeaked and spun around to come face-to-face with Seto, who had somehow managed to sneak up behind him. "Seto! What the heck are you do--"

"Mokuba!" he shouted again. "I had an energy drink!"

There were a few seconds of silence while Mokuba digested what his brother had just said. When it finally registered in his mind he was more than a little confused. "You had an energy drink?" he repeated. "Bu I thought you said that those things were--"

"Rubbish! I know!" Seto interrupted, placing his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "But I need to stay up to work on an important project tonight and I don't want to make any mistakes so I took your advice and GOT ENERGIZED!"

"Oh dear gods!" Mokuba exclaimed, prying himself out of Seto's grasp. "How many did you have?"

"A DOZEN!"

"_What_?!"

"A DOZEN! Twelve! Six times two! Three times four! Nine plus--"

"Yeah! I get the picture!" Mokuba slapped a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath. He studied his brother's face and noted that his eyes were a dilated, the black pupils almost consuming his azure blue colouring. "Seto, when I said to have an energy drink I meant only one! You're going to make yourself sick by drinking that many!"

"BUT I NEEDED IT!"

Mokuba sighed and started to leave the room. "I'm going to tell the staff that they're not to bring you energy drinks."

"**NOO!**"

* * *

_**Day Six...**_

"Man, Kaiba doesn't look too good," Joey commented, a little too happily. He had just watched an extremely pale Seto shuffle in to the classroom on Monday morning and practically collapse in to his chair. His moves were sluggish and it felt like an eternity as the blonde watched him remove the laptop from his bag and set it up on the desk. "I guess Lent isn't going too well for him!"

Yugi giggled, also watching the CEO. "Mokuba said that he drank too many energy drinks last night," he commented. "Apparently Seto was throwing up in the bathroom for a few hours before managing to crawl in to bed."

Joey snickered. "Ha! Serves him right, I say! Do you think he's gonna make it through to the end?"

Yugi started to answer when a loud _thunk_ interrupted him. The boys looked over and saw that Seto had dropped his head on to the keyboard of his laptop, which was now making a continuous _beep-beep _sound. The CEO groaned.

"...No, I don't think he will."

"...Me either."

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Haha, Seto. Haha. Although, I think I've been nice to him in that he only has to give up coffee. I've given up caffeine, and let me tell you, caffeine-free coke doesn't taste that nice!


End file.
